One Last Night
by Moodlesnoops
Summary: It has been a month and three weeks that Seto Kaiba has spent alone in the Kaiba Corp space station, trying to figure out the extent of the quantum cube's abilities. He would hate to admit it but he has no idea why he's so hell bent on seeing the Pharaoh again even if it is for one last night. Heavy angst, anxiety, Kaiba at his breaking point, swearing


One last Night

Prologue

The 8th millennium item was proving it's complexity in every single one of Seto Kaiba's recent experiments on it. For weeks he had been hauled up in the Kaiba Corp space station and Mokuba was beginning to worry. Seto knew things were alright with everything "downstairs" as Mokuba liked to put it. He gave his brother access to all of his files and even made sure that he had a person assistant. Seto always assured him that if he needed anything, his brother was a simple call away. Mokuba's calls got more frequent as time went on. They jumped in number from one to three times a day. This annoyed Seto but he would never let his little brother know that. He didn't want to discourage communication.

One particular call, Mokuba was chatting on about the day's events and asking approval for a certain partnership with some underground CEO whose name Seto couldn't remember even if he tried. It was too long and not catchy enough and it didn't fit with the company name. After the conversation about the possible partnership, Mokuba transferred files to Seto and he paused his work on the cube and began another scan so he would have time to browse casually through the files. He saw no problems until the last page.

"No Mokuba. Don't partner with this man." Seto said after several minutes of silence.

"Why not? What did you see that I didn't?"

"He filed for bankruptcy a year ago. Presumably after spending his money on this." Seto pulled up the image on the seventh page of the paperwork. It was a large tower in Domino. And it was supposedly the tallest. "He decided not to knock his old building down but to build the new one right on top of the old one. Don't you remember this in the news?"

"Oh yeah. The bottom half collapsed because the structure on top was too heavy because of the different materials and lack of maintenance. I totally forgot about it. They had to pay so much to the families of the people that died. I didn't realize it was the same guy."

"It isn't. The old CEO that was responsible was taken into custody due to negligence and is currently going through a lawsuit because of it. This new guy was responsible for the aftermath and although he's handling it surprisingly well, I don't want the company associated with Kaiba Corp."

It was silent for a few minutes as Seto resumed his work on the cube. Mokuba spoke again. "Seto, I'm worried about you."

"I'm fine Mokuba." Seto's reply was harsh and it stung Mokuba. It was his default reply when he buried himself in work like this and Mokuba was getting sick of it.

"I don't think you are. I haven't seen you in a month and three days. I miss you, big bro. I want you to come home." Mokuba swallowed hard to try and get rid of the tears that started to form. He wanted to cry. He wanted Seto home.

"You're the only family I have left, Seto."

The last sentence hit like a train without brakes. It hit him directly in the chest and made his heart sink to his stomach. 'You're the only family I have left, Seto.' He could hear Mokuba sniffling through the intercom. He hated it when his brother cried. He wanted to hang up. He wanted to change the subject. For the first time in a long time, Seto Kaiba was speechless. He dropped what he was doing and faced the camera. Mokuba was crying. He was trying to hide it but his eyes became glassy and his sniffling became a dead giveaway.

"I'll be home soon, Mokuba. I want to find out what this thing can actually do."

"Seto, you haven't been sleeping. And you probably haven't been eating. Your eyes are all bloodshot and your hands are shaking like you-" Mokuba stopped himself in sudden realization. He hung his head low and he let out a small whimper.

"Like I haven't been what?" Seto was curious. His heart remained in his stomach. He had an idea of what Mokuba was about to say next. He didn't want to hear it.

"Like you haven't been taking your medicine." He sounded so small. It broke Seto's heart even more.

"No Mokuba, I haven't." At least he was honest. Although it hurt him to see Mokuba this way. Mokuba was his brother and he knew Seto too well.

"Seto." That was all that Mokuba said before he reached for a tissue and blew his nose. It went silent again after that. And it bothered him. Both of them. But neither of them knew what to say. A subject change at this point in time was not an option. Not that Mokuba knew. "How long?"

"What?"

"How long have you been without it?" Mokuba's voice was suddenly stern. It surprised Seto. Truthfully, he had lost track of time but he looked over to his cluttered work desk to see the half full bottle of white oblong pills that could be made for a horse.

"I'm not without it." Seto fidgeted with his hands which was so unlike him for the people who were not close to him.

"That's why you're still up there." Mokuba was growing frustrated now. It was obvious in his voice. He had abruptly stopped crying also.

"No Mokuba. It's not. I'm so close to a breakthrough on this thing I can't-"

"Can't what? Come down from your little cloud to spend time with your brother? I don't care about anything else in this world besides you and I Seto. You're all I have left. You're the only family I have left. And you spend all your time pushing me away. I can't deal with this shit anymore." He swore. It was so unlike him. Mokuba was always smiling, always happy, and always ready to forgive. He was just a child. Maybe Seto put too much stress on him by putting him in charge back in Domino. Seto remained silent as Mokuba went on he zoned in an out of Mokuba's rant but he didn't move from his spot. He didn't dare go back to fiddling with the cube and his latest scan. One line Mokuba got louder for and the one that brought Seto back from his thoughts would haunt him for weeks after "If you loved me you would take your medicine!" It echoed through the space station.

That was it. Seto went off. He raised his voice louder than he ever had before. "Mokuba that is enough. I'm done being lectured to by a child. Whether or not I love you has nothing to do with when I take my medicine! I'm perfectly fine without it. Want to know why? Because I don't let my mental illness control my fucking life like most of the sniveling population! This conversation is over Mokuba." He slammed his fist onto the work space in front of him. His legs were shaking and his heart was going to burst but not in a good way. He didn't need his brother to tell him what he should and shouldn't do. He was Seto fucking Kaiba the owner and CEO of Kaiba Corporation. He was the one who began and completed the change from nuclear weapons to games. And he was damn proud of it. He was shaking furiously and Mokuba could see it through the video feed.

"Seto, I'm sorry." He said shyly. But Seto remained silent. He didn't say a word and he didn't move. Mokuba knew that he was breaking. And he was over 200 miles away and through the atmosphere. He could do nothing. "Send the elevator back down. I'll come up there to see you."

"No."

"Seto I want to see you."

"I want to be alone."

"Fine then. Be alone. See if I care." Mokube shut off the video and audio feed and Seto did the same.

His shaking felt uncontrollable now and he sank to the floor. He did not cry. He didn't have any more tears left in him. He crumbled and he wailed and he yelled at everything that made him yell at Mokuba like that. He crossed his arms and clawed at his left bicep with his nails on his right hand so hard ripped his shirt he drew blood. He didn't care. He didn't care about anything. He got up and steadied himself on the workspace. He walked over to the desk and picked up the plastic bottle of pills. He held it tightly in his shaky hand and with all the strength he had he threw it across the room. It hit the thick glass wall that led to the nothingness of space and the lid popped off, spilling the medication everywhere. He yelled again, this time at himself for fucking everything in his life up. He couldn't even remember to take a pill everyday. If he couldn't do that how could he solve the mysteries of the cube. He wanted desperately to know what it could do and if he could see 'him' again.

Seto walked with his head hung low towards his bedroom chamber and pulled out another shirt. This one was a more casual choice for Seto Kaiba who normally paraded around in skin tight black and matching shirt with his famous white coat. This T-shirt coincidently was also one of his favorites. He threw the ripped one down the garbage chute where it was to be incinerated. He pulled out a tissue and dabbed at the blood in his arm before he put the new T-shirt on. And made sure that the wound had clotted itself. The last thing he needed was another ruined shirt. Especially not this one.

It was grey and in black lettering on the front it said "blast 'em with your blue eyes again." Mokuba had it made as a birthday present. Due to Seto saying it in a duel at some point. It became a joke for the two after that. Every time something didn't go as planned, one of them would say it and they both would laugh. It had been a while since Seto genuinely laughed at something. He smiled at the memory. And debated on sending a text message to Mokuba with the phrase. But he figured that it was not the time.

Seto walked back into the main lab and he flicked a switch on a water boiler across the room from his work space which began to heat up. When was the last time he ate? The days ran together. Mokuba said something about a month and three weeks in the station. He walked over to the pill bottle he had thrown a few minutes earlier, picked them up, put them back in the bottle, and set them back on the desk. He walked back over to the kettle which had brought the water to a full boil and grabbed a mug, added sugar and an Earl grey tea bag to the cup before he added in the water. This way he didn't have to stir it too much. His hands were still shaky and stirring could be disastrous. Then again, he thought, so could hot beverages without a lid. He debated on pouring the tea into a travel mug but decided against it. He didn't want to sanitize another dish.

He walked towards the kitchen with his cup. The shaking in his hands had calmed down slightly once he had something to hold. He paused for a second to take a sip from his tea which, much to his satisfaction, didn't need stirring. He continued his walk to the kitchen. The workers in the lab below the station sent up bi-weekly rations but Seto was so busy, he never ate them all so his pantry was fully stocked. With whatever he pleased. He felt his stomach growl for the first time in a long time. It burned. It had been a while since he last ate. He opened the mini fridge and found nothing to his liking. He opened a few cabinets until he found an MRE which consisted of chicken alfredo. "This will work." He said to no one. He promptly put his mug down and grabbed the MRE. He opened it carefully and read the instructions as to how to prepare it. He thought he had it down after a month and a half but he was surprised to find that he didn't. He let the heat pack warm up his food and walked back into the lab. A message had popped up on one of the various screens in the lab and he rushed towards it. "Scanners indicate that this cube is capable of carrying a person through interdimensional travel." This was it. This was what he was looking for. But sadly, it would have to wait a few more minutes while he calmed his stomach down. He walked back to the kitchen and grabbed a paper bowl and a plastic fork. He emptied the contents of the chicken alfredo packet. He ate somewhat slowly despite the newfound energy that the latest scan gave him. The last thing he needed was an upset stomach. He sipped at his tea and when he was finished he threw the bowl and fork into the garbage chute and left what the rest of the tea on the table. He swiftly walked into the lab once again to take a more detailed look into the scan.

He brought up a holographic screen and began to double check the mathematics what went into the scan by hand. He elongated the screen several times to ensure he could have everything on one screen. Everything seemed correct. He ran a double check on the computer.

The next five minutes were agonizing. He walked back into the kitchen to get his mug, then back into the lab. He then walked into his bedroom to get his cellphone. He pulled up a chair to the screens he had open and unlocked his phone. No messages. It didn't bother him anymore. It was slightly weird to have nothing from Mokuba though. He checked his social media. The new duel disk was a hit. He looked through pictures from all over the world of people of different ages smiling at the new device strapped to their arms. Despite what had happened with him and Mokuba barely even two hours ago, he felt himself smile a genuine smile. A notification sound echoed in the lab and Seto looked up immediately. His smile grew even larger when he looked at the results. Everything was correct. With his mug still in his hand he rolled the chair over to the workspace where the video intercom system was. He quickly dialed Mokuba, forgetting about the fight until Mokuba denied the call. Seto called again and was denied again. "Third time's a charm." He said out loud and dialed again. Mokuba picked up. He was still fuming.

"Mokuba."

"Seto."

"The latest set of scans show that the cube is capable of carrying someone through dimensions." He set the small bit that he had left of the tea down.

"Okay, so?" He was still beyond mad. Seto could tell.

"Mokuba this could change history. Opening the world to different possibilities of travel. This is incredible." He felt like spinning in his chair but he restrained himself.

"That's great." He wasn't as enthusiastic as Seto had hoped. "But what happened to your arm?" Shit. Seto hoped he wouldn't ask. He had temporarily forgotten about that. He avoided the question by rambling on about the cube and it's possibilities. He was stopped again by Mokuba. "You had a melt down, didn't you?"

"Mokuba that's not important right now. I'm transferring the data to the tower." Seto pulled up a holographic keyboard and began to transfer the files of data that he knew Mokuba wouldn't understand. He hit send soon after and a few seconds later a notification sound was heard over the intercom. Mokuba didn't move when the sound resonated in the office.

"I'm sorry Seto. For blowing up at you and making you freak like that." He sighed. "It's only been like two hours maybe three and I'm still mad, but you're my brother. I have to make sure you're okay and I was just so frustrated."

"It's okay Mokuba. I blew up too." An oddly comfortable silence filled the room.

"Blast 'em with your blue eyes again." Mokuba said with a small smile after some comfortable silence.

"Yeah. Blast em again." The boys laughed a little. "I had dinner by the way. Just thought you should know."

"Good. Finally you're feeding yourself." Mokuba chuckled. Someone entered the office at the tower and reminded him of a meeting in fifteen minutes. He replied and went right back to Seto. "I've got a meeting bro, did you want me to call you back afterwards?"

"No, that's alright. After you get out it should be about time for you to head home." He glanced at the clock. It was 7:50 back home in Domino. Way past the time Mokuba should have been home. This meeting would probably get done around 8. It was too late for Mokuba to be staying in the office. Seto made a mental note to yell at the assistant tomorrow for making Mokuba's schedule run so late. "Just send me a text when you get home if you remember okay?"

"Okay. I'm still mad at you but I'm glad you got what you were looking for." Mokuba smiled.

"I'm almost done. Another week maybe two up here and then I'll be home." Seto lied. He had no idea when he'd be home but at least it gave his brother something to look forward to. And if he ran over a bit, well, he'd have to cross that bridge when he got there. "Now get to that meeting important people are waiting." He said with a smirk.

"Kay. Get some sleep tonight. Bye."

"Bye." Seto cut off his feed and leaned back in the chair. That went better than he had expected. Sleep sounded great but he had one last thing to do beforehand. He stood up, finished the rest of his tea which had gone cold and walked over to the cube that was now suspended in the zero gravity chamber. He brought up the history of scans and tests performed. _Interdimensional travel_. If it could send a person, why not start small. He walked to his workspace, ripped out a sheet of loose leaf from a notebook that had long been overlooked, and started to write. He wrote one simple sentence with a pen too heavy for his liking and folded the note after. With the push off a button he summoned the cube out of the zero gravity chamber. He pressed the gold eye of wdjat on the cut out corner and the cube began to glow. He slid the note through the top with surprising ease praying to some unknown force that it made it to it's intended destination. Once he was done he put the cube back in the chamber and headed towards his bedroom once again. He felt guilty that he got to retire to bed before Mokuba but as soon as he put pajama pants on and took off his T- Shirt all feelings of guilt subsided. He peeled back the comforter and slid in between his sheets. His last thought before falling into a dreamless sleep was of the note he wrote.

"I'll be there soon,  
S. Kaiba"

A/N: with this I was hoping to set up for future chapters. Oddly enough this song was inspired by an AMV I saw on Tumblr at some point. I hope you all enjoy this as I continue to work on it. I have a ton of ideas that I can't wait to put into words.

Songs: One last night-light Vaults

Warning sign - Coldplay

Half light - BANNERS


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